first bought of discouragement

Don,t give up on your freestyle perservre with it but most importantly enjoy the training. Same here with me I can swim breaststroke effortlessly but still cannot do a 100m freestyle comfortably, still learning how to do freestyle. If you're gaining on weight only two ways either cut down on your calories or if you can't give up on the food then I guess you'll have to exercise more or at higher intensity without killing yourself first.
Just curious, what's your "normal amount of food"??

Hi Dorian,
Been there, am there right now.

When I decided to train for a tri. I dove into the pool and 10 minutes later was thinking it would never happen. If my calculations are correct, an Olympic distance is about 37 laps. I could do about one length freestyle and one length breast stroke for about 8 laps. This past Monday, 2 months later I finally did the distance with only two breast stroke lengths and one 30 sec. rest. I still have a bit of a panic attack when I think about open water swims but then I just try to remember the times when I was a kid and used to dive off the dock and swim about 1/4 mile to the point of a bay on a lake in nothern Wisconsin. Not the smartest thing to do because I never told anyone where I was going or what I was doing but I survived. I plan on finding a spot and doing a couple of open water swims before my first tri. on June 27. Is there a tri club near you? maybe they could help.

Weight loss:
Everyone says the last 5 lbs is the hardest. The body just doesn't want to give it up. Last summer I was as lean as I have ever been then pulled a hamstring and had to cut back on training. Guess what? the pounds came back on. Here's what I did and am doing now;

Plan each days nutrition the night before and stick to it.
have one free day per week eat anything you want.
after about 4 weeks of low calorie, take a week and up the calories by about 300.
then get back on low cal.
raise the intensity of your cardio workouts.

I'll look up the sources of where I came up with my plan and send them to you so you can make an informed decision about how to go about shedding the last 5 lbs.

main thing is to hang in there and don't give up. Remember, the folks they use as models in fitness mags. often don't look that way year round.

Don

I can't help you much with the swimming since I'm just learning too.

With the weight, however, I've got some ideas. I have been/am going through what you're going through. I refuse to starve myself or do ANY diet that makes me feel funny. I want to be healthy, but I think a few extra pounds are preferable to yo-yo dieting. What's been working for me is modified South Beach a few days a week. Here's what it looks like:

Breakfast: 2-3 eggs, scrambled, with 3 slices turkey bacon and coffee with 2% milk.
Snack 1 at 10 am: 1 stick red. fat string cheese
Lunch: Low carb pita w/ spicy brown mustard, 6 turkey breast slices, 1 sliced cucumber piled on it. Braeburn apple. The pita kinda sucks. I'll stick with Cobblestone Mills whole grain honey wheat (my fav)
Caffeine break at 2 pm: 1 can diet soda
Snack 2 at 4pm: 1 small cup lite yogurt. 1 200 mg caffeine pill to help boost calorie burning potential during workout.
Workout at 5 pm
Snack 3: Big a$$ salad with a few croutons and parmesan cheese sprinkles
Dinner: Meat, green veggies, another salad if I want. Last night I had black beans w/mixed peppers, cucumber island salad and a veggie burger. And don't forget ONE BEER!
LOTS OF WATER

You'll notice that I've got more carbs than recommended (apple, yogurt, pita/whole grain bread, beer). Those have made it much easier to workout and recover, which is actually recommended in a small paragraph at the end of a section about exercise in the South Beach book. Be sure to have some carbs right before and right after working out. Anyway, by cramming my face with good food regularly, I'm not hungry enough to bother with cheating on my diet. The cucumber turkey sandwich is actually pretty filling, especially when coupled with a large apple. I go on and off as I gain and lose weight.

My weight tends to go up and down in small increments, but the general trend has been downward. Today, for the first time in months, my fat percentage registered a little lower! Yeah!

Anyway, when I get very discouraged, I try to remember that the slower I lose weight, the slower I'll gain it back in the future. I also keep in mind that our bodies are programed to lose weight slower and gain weight faster. It is natural to struggle with this. And when I feel really down, I just think about how I'd rather be larger and get to enjoy pizza and beer than be skinny and miserable like a model!

Good luck!

Edited by Whit 2004-04-23 9:39 AM